Absolutely - like that female Bioware employee that got totally abused over comments she made in 2006 regarding a very easy difficulty in games for those only really interested in the story rather than hardcore combat. No need, or real reason for it really.

That sort of thing speaks more about the person making the comment than the intended target.

Yeah, it was news to me to that mute stats are recorded. You'd think it would be reasoanably simple to implement auto mute.

For sure. The fact that they record them means they think it important. And the only useful conclusion to draw from the stats is how offensive they are. So why not do something about it? Auto-mute is a perfect idea.